Swarthmore has no job for me to apply to next year.
It is time to let it go.
Head back west?
L.A.?
Canada?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
But tonight it's hockey and beer.
Thursday:
- Make transparencies for Saturday morning talk.
- Write a quiz for the Pi-rates to give to my students Friday.
- Drive past State College to Altoona for an extra special session of the special session.
- Schmooze with people who might want to hire me.
- Drive back to State College. Sleep.
- Wake up.
- Give my 20 minute talk at 8:00am to kick off the special session.
- Hang around to see if anyone wants to jam.
- Drive to Wilkes-Barre for a wedding.
- Crash.
- Drive home.
- Regroup and start getting ready for Halloween.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Road Shrapnel
The Cambridge House Brew Pub in Granby, CT is quite nice. I went for lunch yesterday, and treated myself to a flight of their beers.
Blitzkrieg, Kolsch, IPA, ESB, and Stout. The Blitzkrieg was made with German yeast, English malt, and American hops. It was a nice concoction. The stout was full of roasted malt, giving it a smokey coffee-like bitterness, which helped it to win a silver medal at this year's GABF.
After my flight and spinach salad, I headed back to my car. The delivery guy, who had been unloading various foodstuffs while I was sampling beers, pointed out my flat tire.
Oh.
I get out my jack, tire iron, and spare, and get to work. I get three out of four bolts off, when I notice the fourth is not like the others. Hmm.
The delivery guy tells me it's a knot. There should be a piece to attach to the tire iron which will fit the knot. If it's not with the other tools, it's in the glove box. Right he was, in the glove box was my knot unknotter. Thanks again.
As I'm taking care of the last bolt, an old man gets into his Cadillac to leave the pub. He slows down and lends me some empathy and good cheer.
"At least it's only flat on the bottom!" He says. I point out that that's the part of the tire which most needs to be round. "I owned a Civic once. That's a great car." Unfortunately, no car is immune to flat tires. "I suspect that's true. Have a great day!"
Flat off, spare on, I head inside to wash up and get some direction. I tell the bartender my situation. "Yeah, I saw you out there changing the tire. There's a shop a mile up the road that will fix your flat for free." Well hot damn. Fix it for free they did.
Say what you will about people in New England. I got a nice sense of community from people I encountered yesterday.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Pentatomidae Vendetta
I was recently reminded that last year at the beginning of fall stink bugs make their way through the cracks in the old windows of my apartment. What reminded me was the stink bugs crawling through the cracks in the old windows of my apartment. These bugs have a lowly existence. They crawl around looking for food and if they feel threatened, they squirt out this liquid, which stinks like crazy.
The cats took a brief interest in them last year. Sid quickly learned they were not much fun. But Butters had an experience that went something like this:
Patty asked me about the bugs one day. "What are these bugs that are invading?" I told her they are stink bugs. "How do we get rid of them?" Kill them on sight. Whenever I see one in the house now, I grab a tissue, grab the bug, and squeeze until I hear a crack. One less stink bug.
Evidently, they feed on "plant juice," so it's not clear what is attracting them to the computer room upstairs. They might be hatching from eggs on the trees just outside, and our apartment is the closest stop.
I woke up last night around 4:30. I rubbed my hand across my face, discovering a stink bug had found its way to the nook between my nose and the inner corner of my right eye. The stink bug was startled by this. Fuck. I grabbed it, threw it onto the floor, and ran to the bathroom. By the time I get my some fresh running water to my eye, it's too late. I can feel the stink poison stinging my eye. Thoughts run through my head about losing sight in my right eye, but I dismiss them as improbable. I rinse my eye for a few minutes more, then head back to bed. Damn that stink bug.
The inner corner of my right eye is still sore, and that bug is still in my house. I'm going hunting tonight.
The cats took a brief interest in them last year. Sid quickly learned they were not much fun. But Butters had an experience that went something like this:
Oh a bug! I'm going to eat it!
Yuck!
Oh a bug! I'm going to eat it!
Oh a bug! I'm going to eat it!
Yuck!
Oh a bug! I'm going to eat it!
Oh a bug! I'm going to eat it!
Yuck!
You can give her points for determination, I suppose.Patty asked me about the bugs one day. "What are these bugs that are invading?" I told her they are stink bugs. "How do we get rid of them?" Kill them on sight. Whenever I see one in the house now, I grab a tissue, grab the bug, and squeeze until I hear a crack. One less stink bug.
Evidently, they feed on "plant juice," so it's not clear what is attracting them to the computer room upstairs. They might be hatching from eggs on the trees just outside, and our apartment is the closest stop.
I woke up last night around 4:30. I rubbed my hand across my face, discovering a stink bug had found its way to the nook between my nose and the inner corner of my right eye. The stink bug was startled by this. Fuck. I grabbed it, threw it onto the floor, and ran to the bathroom. By the time I get my some fresh running water to my eye, it's too late. I can feel the stink poison stinging my eye. Thoughts run through my head about losing sight in my right eye, but I dismiss them as improbable. I rinse my eye for a few minutes more, then head back to bed. Damn that stink bug.
The inner corner of my right eye is still sore, and that bug is still in my house. I'm going hunting tonight.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Here are some student comments from my course last spring.
Some of these won't make it into my application materials.
Some of these won't make it into my application materials.
- You were great at communication! Thanks!
- Awesome. This is the most organized class i'm in with the best email communication between myself and a professor. I love how I can see my grade as well.
- Homework was the hardest part of the course. It was rare that I could complete it myself without visiting office hours or going to the engineering help session. The amount of homework assigned was usually reasonable, but sometimes the problems were far too tedious and time-consuming.
- It was often annoying to have a quiz every week, but I think it made me review the material after I had finished the homework. I think I retained more information because of them. I do think that they should be 5% of our grade and homework 15%
- I have always liked the format Prof. Kronholm's exams. They cover most of the material which makes it worthwhile to prepare for every possible topic. Also, the exams avoid the often arduous calculations found in the homework and focuses on understanding the material instead.
- you should give a bandana to the highest and lowest scorers in the class
- Joking with the teacher always makes math class more fun.
- Bill Kronholm is AWESOME!! He's my favorite!
- Very effective use of colored chalk...
- Thanks for being so patient in your office hours.
- Great class! I usually don't enjoy math classes very much, but I will miss this one very much. I invested a lot of time working for this class, but it was worth it because I learned a lot.
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